Summer Backpacking Trip 2023 - Part 2

Dates: 7/30/23 - 8/1/23

Crew: Sean Downs, Monica Mah, Yisha Ng, Ben Hall

Locations: Grand Teton National Park

 It's Grand Teton, not Grand Tetons!

After the remote backpacking of the Wind River Range, Grand Teton National Park would be an easy breezy affair of day hikes and car camping. After all, 15-mile hikes are easy so long as you don't have 3 days worth of supplies on your back. I was a bit worried about crowds in such a popular park, and worried about the heat now that we were a mile lower in elevation. The crowds weren't too awful, but it was looking pretty hot in the lowlands around the mountains (85-90 degree days, not the best for hiking). Regardless, I was stoked to have finally made it here.

And about the park nomenclature- the mountain range is the Tetons, the tallest and most iconic peak is the Grand Teton, and the park is Grand Teton National Park. 

With energy back, we drove next to Mormon row in the fields of Antelope flats. This historic settlement (listed on the natl. register of historic places!) has homes and barns from settlement in the early 1900s. It's a popular sport for tourists because of the scenic Moulton barns with grassland and the huge vertical rise of the Tetons 7000' in the background. There was also a living history exhibition going on, with period actors showing how settlers would weave, cook, blacksmith, farm, play music, etc. 

Bradley and Taggart Lake Loop

After Mormon row, we went to the main visitor center, walking through the museum exhibits inside on the prehistoric and historic settlements of the area. The center has incredible panoramic windows giving a view of the mountains. Then we doubled back to the Taggart Lake trailhead, which gives access to loop hikes of Bradley and Taggart lakes, two glacial lakes perched at the foot of the Tetons. The combined hike is about 6 miles, and we headed for Bradley first. It was in the upper 80s and hot when we started out, so the cold lake water was refreshing, but still a little too icy for me and Ben to fully enjoy like everyone else.

Continuing on to Taggart Lake, we got overtaken by an afternoon mountain thunderstorm and didn't get a chance to swim again.

Schwabacher's Landing

With the hike done and the sun already approaching the tops of the mountains, we drove to Schwabacher's Landing, a popular sunrise/sunset viewing spot. Taking a leisurely stroll along the Snake river, we split up a bit. The sun shone bright, illuminating puffy cumulus clouds and shrouding the mountains in a blue haze.

Camp for the night was at Gros Ventre, a car camping area and the largest campsite for Grand Teton NP. There were TONS of people and lots of car, trailer, and generator noise, but we found enough space for a semi-retreated tent huddle. The golden hour clouds were magnificent poking through the trees, and the mosquitos were thankfully much tamer here than in the Winds. We had dinner, played cribbage, euchre, and hearts, and went to bed early to get up for sunrise viewing the next morning.

Cascade Canyon

Once the sunrise light had gone through its progression from red to gold and faded into normal daylight, we went back to camp and broke it down, then headed to the Jenny Lake docks/Cascade canyon trailhead for the day's hike. To hike Cascade Canyon you can take a boat across Jenny Lake or opt to hike around the lake for an additional 2.5 miles each way, making a 15-mile total for a long day hike. Yisha's ankle was not doing too well so she and Ben rode the boat and the rest of us hiked up to the west shore boat dock. From there, we hiked up to Hidden Falls at the mouth of Cascade Canyon, an impressive waterfall, where we met back up with Ben and Yisha.

After viewing the 100-foot drop of Hidden Falls and watching American Dippers doing their bird thing on the rocks of the river, we continued up to Inspiration point, an overlook of Jenny Lake. The trail is carved right out of the cliffside, built by the CCC in the '30s. A short, spooky, and steep time later, we were there with a large crowd. Pushing on towards Cascade Canyon though, those crowds quickly fell away.

Hiking up into the canyon, it has a characteristic U-shape, meaning it was carved out by a massive glacier and not created by erosion like much sharper "V-shape" canyons are (see Black Canyon of the Gunnison). The upper reaches are near-vertical sheets of granite laced with snow, and the gentle bottom slope grows lush and green, with a snowmelt cascade flowing through it. We saw several moose as we hiked, including a cow (female moose) who was right behind a large boulder next to the trail. We stayed back hoping she would move off, but eventually had to slip by to get out of the area.

Once we reached the trail fork that leads deeper into the Tetons (for backpacking trips) and we had an overview of Cascade Canyon behind us out of the valley, it was time to turn around. We retraced our way out, bringing the grand total to 14+ miles by the time we'd gone past Jenny Lake back to the original trailhead.

The rest of the day was relative relaxation to give our legs a break. First we drove up to the Signal mountain overlook, which gives a more eye-level appraisal of the Tetons. A short walk from the parking lot gave vast views of the plain and the shadowed mountains rising into a dark bank of stormclouds. Quite dramatic! Also there were many butterflies here for some reason.

Signal Mountain and Elk Ranch Flats

Then we drove down to the Elk Ranch Flats where we were lucky enough to see not just a huge elk on the roadside, but also a large herd of Buffalo! We stayed well away from them and behind a fence but it was cool to see them moving through the sea of yellow prairie grass.

And that was the end of a great day. We camped at Colter Bay, a car camping site nestled in the woods near Jackson Lake.

Delta Lake

Once the sun was up we went straight for our last hike of the trip- up to Delta Lake.

Located in Glacier Gulch, Delta Lake gets its vibrant turqoise color from glacier flour (ground up minerals) that comes from the Teton Glacier. The hike is 8 miles round trip, but isn't listed as an "official trail" because after a few miles heading up through the forest and increasingly exposed switchbacks up the mountainside, the trail disapppears and leaves you to scramble up a thousand feet of boulder fields. It wasn't particularly dangerous or difficult, but it was tiring especially with the amount of focus to not have any slips in the loose jumble of rock. I was glad for our early start since the unshaded switchbacks were already getting hot by 9-10am.

We made short work of the scramble, and took a quick stop to observe a beautiful yellow-red Western Tanager sitting and singing in a pine tree. Then after a quick balance beam crossing of the logjam at the far end of the lake we were greeted by the views of the bright waters, looming mountains, and clear blue sky. We were free to roam the shoreline and find a place to set up for lunch and a swim.

Most of the people swimming were clustered around a large flat rock sitting out in the lake, soaking in the sun to try and warm up after a dip in the icy water. We waded out to the rocks, and my feet/legs got numb just from that. Monica dove right in and started doing laps, but the rest of us took a long time to work up the courage. When I finally committed, I tried to flop in to get it over with and got a pointy rock right to the spine for my trouble. Only a few minutes in the water was enough for me, and I settled for relaxing in the sun until we were ready to head back down.

Backtracking the trail, we ended up back at the car where we repacked everything, headed off to the Jackson Hole airport again, and bade goodbye to our mountain paradise. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the Tetons- I'd expected them to be more overrun and less impressive than they were, and it was the perfect easier half to end our trip on. Fortunately, I had a lot coming up in September to look forward to!